- London house prices are falling at their fastest rate since the financial crisis.
- According to Acadata, house prices fell by 2.6% in January.
- The south-west London borough of Wandsworth was the worst hit, with prices falling 2.5% on the month and 14.9% at an annual rate.
LONDON – House prices in London are falling at the fastest rate since the depths of the UK’s last recession during the global financial crisis, a survey from Acadata released on Monday showed.
Acadata’s report showed that house prices in the capital fell to an average of £593,396 in January, which equates to an annual fall of 2.6%. That marks the biggest drop since August 2009 when Britain was in the depths of the financial crisis.
The south-west London borough of Wandsworth performed worst in London. Prices there fell by 2.5% month-on-month or by 14.9% when compared to January 2017. Prices in Southwark dropped 12.2% on an annual basis.
But some boroughs saw strong annual price growth in Acadata’s survey, with prices in the northern borough of Brent increasing 8.5%.
Here's Acadata's map of the capital:
Acadata's report is in line with other house price indexes, which point to continuing falls in prices across the capital.
Estate agents Savills, for instance, forecasts that prices in Greater London will fall 1.5% over 2017 then fall by a further 2% in 2018, before stabilising in 2019 and returning to growth the year after.
The London slowdown - which is already starting to bite - is being driven by bloated prices in the capital, slow progress in Brexit negotiations, and worries about further interest rate hikes from the Bank of England, which drive up mortgage costs.